I am alive and Photoshopping!

Looking at my Blogger dashboard, it appears that I have neglected my blog for quite some time! I am here to assure you that we are alive and well, but extremely busy! "Busy doing what?" you might ask. Well since you asked...vacation, Vacation Bible School, visiting old friends (well, not that they're OLD...but I sure do feel old seeing how big their kiddos are now), making new friends, vacation (yes, another one!), and learning new techniques on Photoshop!

Whew! That sounds like a lot, but if you throw in attacking massive loads of laundry, swimming in the backyard, reading If You Will Ask by Oswald Chambers, chatting endlessly with my little sister, and learning Indiana Jones LEGO on the Xbox, it really sounds like I've had NO time to blog!

So just to get back in the swing of things, I'm going to do a hit and run post. After all, I've got photos to Photoshop.

Is that an actual verb?! Well, it is now!

Mckmama gave this Photoshop tutorial on making antique-looking photos awhile back and I am just now getting around to trying it out. Needless to say, I am hooked!

Here are the fruits of my labor:

Before


After

Wasn't that cool! Run on over to Mckmama's tutorial to check out how I did that.

You didn't think I'd write a post without the obligatory pictures of my kiddos did you?!

That would be insane!

Enjoy your weekend! Can you guess what I'll be doing?

Red, White, but Certainly NOT Blue!

Billowing flags, cold watermelon, oohs and aahs over the rockets red glare, grilled hot dogs. What a way to celebrate the anniversary of our great nation achieving its freedom! This July 4th, our family will gather at the beautiful Texas coast and enjoy the long (albeit HOT) weekend with great food, fun, and fellowship. Ever present in our minds is the sacrifice made by the brave men and women who have fought to maintain what our founding fathers envisioned so many years ago. We will praise our Creator for the unalienable Rights that We the People enjoy without even realizing the price many paid for it. If you have never read the Declaration of Independence or The Constitution of the United States, I encourage you to click on the links in the previous sentence. It will definitely make you realize that today our nation is heading down a path opposite what the founding fathers intended.

Before I launch into a political tirade (which I have been careful to avoid on my blog because I tend to get a little worked up which leads to my inability to adequately express a logical thought, unlike my good friend Kunta), let me tell you what we will NOT be celebrating this holiday weekend: the color blue.

That's right, you heard me correctly. Our fourth of July will be all about Old Glory, minus the blue. Betsy Ross is probably turning over in her grave!

A while back, my son Wesley developed a case of cyanophobia while away for a weekend with his grandparents. For whatever reason, he is afraid of the color blue. We're talking, major meltdown, panic-stricken screams, etc. To top it off, its a highly selective fear, sometimes striking without any warning and other times failing to appear despite bracing ourselves for a seemingly likely occurrence. For instance, he had no problem picking blueberries and blackberries using a blue bucket.

But, he is petrified of his blue sheets on his bed and would refuse to sleep under the covers.

Strange, I know.

So what's a mom to do (I say mom because WGH actually has to work for a living, leaving me to "do")? Do we force him to face and conquer his fear? Do we cave in and remove any hint of blue from our lives? Well, I guess we sort of met in the middle. Since sleeping is kind of a big deal (well, at least to me it is), we decided to cater to Wesley's fear by revamping his bedroom. The main problem was my lack of desire (or funds) to repaint his burnt orange room--and no, I am not declaring my undying support of UT! We just liked the color! So we transformed the Cars-themed (well, sorta) room into a homage (sorta) to our military, in which we have several family members both past and present. Here's the big reveal:

Full size set of olive green sheets: $20

Spray paint to revamp picture frames and other accessories: $4

Bandannas for bed skirt, throw pillow, and window topper: $15

Flat sheets to make reversible curtains: $20

Scrapbook paper for initials and photo mats: $5

Son's ability to sleep comfortably under his covers: PRICELESS

Wes loves his new room! Most of the items now in there are just retreads from the previous room. Thank you Jenny for the spray paint inspiration! I have a few photos of family in the military that I am working on printing and framing. And in case you couldn't tell, the photo of the photo is my dad jumping out of a perfectly good airplane while in jump school when he was in the Army National Guard where he served as a jump sergeant. The blank spot under his initials is still a work in progress. Perhaps the local recruiting office will have some posters...

Here is a great craft idea for the 4th. My kids loved it! Please be aware that my son was not scarred in any way by this craft! He simply refused to touch any blue paint!

Amidst all the grilling, swimming, laughing, and lounging, don't forget to thank a Veteran for their service to our country. Be sure to send a few prayers heavenward for our troops at home and abroad. Without them, there would be no Independence Day.

Dump Cake, Part One

I figured it was time to update the ol' blog. It has been a couple of weeks since I've posted anything and I didn't want you to think I'd fallen off the face of the earth or anything...

Unfortunately, that means you get the dump cake version of our last few weeks. Just like a dump cake, it will look highly random and perhaps slightly questionable, but the end result is super sweet! So grab a cup of coffee and have some dump cake:

Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, Frederick Style

It is no secret that, while I love my home tremendously, I do object to several of the "cookie cutter home" standard features (basic faucets, ugly standard light fixtures, ceiling fans, etc.) However, those are things that we can replace and update when we have time (and MONEY!). So I promise that I did not sabotage my plain, standard, cookie-cutter home installed kitchen faucet so that WGH would replace it. Honest! After all, who enjoys getting a surprise shower while washing dishes? Trust me, I would not stoop so low. Nevertheless, I am so excited that I now have a more aesthetically pleasing faucet in my kitchen (and WGH picked it out himself). Have mentioned lately that I do have the World's Greatest Husband?! Don't even think about arguing with me on it. I'm sure your husbands are great, but definitely NOT the world's greatest!

But I digress...I was so excited about my new faucet that I decided to have a photo shoot with my new faucet. She was a willing participant!


Isn't she beautiful?!

Dust and Mold and Grass, Oh My!

My poor baby boy has so much trouble with his allergies! When we took him to the allergy doctor (click here for his drama-laden exchange with the doctor), the dreaded allergy test was prescribed. Here are a few of the pics from the oh-so-sad visit:

Overall, the visit went well. The nurse who performed the test is the mom of a former student (from my super special Class of 2004) and they allowed Wes to bring his favorite DVD to watch while we waited. The pokes you see in the photo above were administered in 3 sections of 8, so he only felt the 24 total pokes 3 times. Then he got to wait it out for 20 minutes while watching The Backyardigans.

Mommy got to follow in Wesley's footsteps the following week with my own allergy test. I was kidding myself when I thought my test would be like Wesley's. No such luck. I had over 50 pokes administered to the inner forearm! And that was only stage one! The second stage included over 30 needle injections to my upper arms. Can you say OUCH (if I were the swearing type, I might of let a few slip, but I'm not, so I didn't)! God is good though. The nurses in the office are Christians and had our local Contemporary Christian station on the radio, so I was able to focus my thoughts on things a little more reassuring!

The result?

• Mold: Wes (1 mold) Mom (all molds)


• Dust: Wes and Mom (all dust)


• Grass: Mom (all grass)


• Cat: Wes and Mom (again, Mom has it worse!)


• Dog: Wes and Mom (no family pet in the future for us--Sorry Jilly!)

The final conclusion?

• Rip out the carpet


• Buy air purifiers for mine and Wesley's bedrooms


• Totally encase our mattress, box springs, and pillows with allergy barrier coverings.


• Wash in hot water every week any washable items and wipe down any non-washable items (beyond typical dusting).

The lesson learned?

• Yes, I am in fact "sick of housework"


• Do not wash curtains in hot water after you have installed the curtain hardware. Same applies to bedskirts. Good thing I needed to replace those anyway...

3 Going on 13!

Jilly got a haircut last week. She loves going to the salon because our awesome stylist straightens her hair. For the rest of the day Jilly flips her hair and runs her fingers through it. Mommy and Daddy, however, were not so thrilled after this last visit:

Doesn't she look way too old for a three-year-old?! Flash forwards to "But Mom, everyone else is doing it!" innundate my thoughts! I thought WGH would have a heart attack. This really made me regret the lament I posted a while back.

So I've noticed that this post is entirely too long! For those who are still hanging around, bloodshot eyes and all, I'll let you rest your eyes.

Come back later for another helping of Dump Cake!

Not Me! Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to http://www.mycharmingkids.net">her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

Can you guess around what my entire week revolved?! If not, just sit back and check it out:


I DID NOT spend all of last week rushing around getting ready for Jillian's third birthday. Furthermore, I WAS NOT frustrated over the vague "angel" theme that Miss Priss insisted on having. Do you realize how little there is out there for an angel-themed party?! I certainly WASN'T a tinsy bit relieved that quite a few on the guest list was unable to attend (we still had 40 people there). After all, we certainly ARE NOT the type of family that packs way too many friends and relatives in our medium-sized house. Even if we were, it certainly WOULDN'T be for the cuddliest curly-headed cutie you've ever seen!

Given the fact that we are a family with allergies (namely, Wes and myself) I WOULD NEVER dream of getting a puppy for the kids after seeing Wesley with my nieces' adorable pug puppy.

Speaking of allergies, at Wesley's new patient visit to a local allergist on Wednesday, the following conversation DID NOT occur:

Doctor: "So, what brings Mr. Wesley into the office today?"

Mom: "Well..."

Wesley: [interrupts] "My eyes itch. My nose itches. I'm sneezing and itching and if you don't take this mold out of my head I'll die."

Mom: "No Wes, you won't die from your mold allergy,"

Wesley: "I will if my head falls off!"

And we thought Jillian was the Drama Queen!

Have you ever seen such a sweet angel?! NEVER IN A MILLION YEARS would I have to threaten said angel with no birthday party if she did not cease her back-talking, bickering, and all around bad attitude! Her mommy certainly DID NOT have to tuck her devil tail under that precious little dress and hide the pitchfork prior to the guests arrival!

Pride was NOT evident on my face when my son lovingly insisted on being next to his sister at the table. And I certainly WOULD NEVER insist that he stop kissing and hugging his sister so she could blow out her candles! NEVER will you hear me admit to somehow, someway getting rid of all the left over cupcakes. The words "going on a diet" WILL NOT be uttered from my mouth this week! Who could ever love homemade buttercream icing? NOT ME!


With all the scrambling to shop, clean, bake, set up, decorate, hostess, serve, clean, and put away new presents (whew, I'm exhausted just from listing all that!), you will NEVER EVER hear me say that I am the happiest woman in the world. With a family like this, why would I?!

All right, now it's your turn! Join in on the fun by blogging on what you HAVEN'T been up to this past week and then following the instructions on MckMama's blog.

Have a great week!

Show Us Where You Live Friday: Kid's Room Edition

This week Kelly is spotlighting kids' rooms. I have two kiddos, but am only going to showcase my daughter's room today (my son's room is not interesting enough yet)!

This is the view from the door. Sorry for the weird angle, but it's a narrow opening at the door and then breaks out into the actual room. Her walls are beige because this was my son's room when he was our only child. After that, it was my office while the kiddos shared a room temporarily. Jilly is quite content in her room, as you can see in the picture. She enjoys playing house with her babies. She's in for quite a treat tomorrow when she receives her playhouse at her birthday party tomorrow! It will reside in that far corner.

Here is Jillian's Art Gallery. She got the boa as a party favor and we decided to repurpose it as a replacement for the boring ole clothesline that formerly displayed her prized artwork. The wall lettering is from Hobby Lobby. I must say it can be quite addicting, those wall decals! I'm thinking I need to have an Uppercase Living party!




The canopy over Jilly's bed actually used to serve as a bone fide mosquito net! We had a mosquito problem many, many, prekid years ago and WGH bought the net to keep us from being bug food while we slept! I dug it out of the attic and we attached the boa to "girl it up" a little. I am a very cheap decorator!


Here is more evidence of my cheap decorating skills. Those plain black frames I salvaged from my classroom (I displayed class group photos in them). Gather some artwork and/or photos, add some scrapbook paper, and voila, you have a nice filler for any room. Same thing applies for the butterflies hanging from the ceiling in the corner: these were school and church art projects that I hung from a dowel that I painted pink.

This view is from the far corner. The framed work is yet another example of using up leftover scrapbook paper, as are the covered initials on the wall.

This is my favorite addition to Jillian's room, her bedskirt. We had some leftover tulle around the house, so I just tied it to a bit of cording and attached it to the plain flat sheet that had served as her bedskirt. If you notice in the picture above this one, it is an unfinished project! I ran out of tulle ;)

Hope you enjoyed the tour! Hop on over to Kelly's Korner (click on the icon at the top of the post) and check out some absolutely fabulous kid's room and super adorable nurseries!

What was I thinking?!

Last week, I lamented over my daughter's ultra-curly hair in a Not Me! Monday post. It seems like a crazy thing to secretly (or not so secretly now!) wish to not have to deal with hair that draws oohs and aahs everywhere we go, but having survived 30+ years with the same "curse," I know what lies down the road ahead: careful washing, careful conditioning, careful brushing, careful applying of anti-frizz creams...

you get the idea. And that's not even what it takes to survive typical Gulf Coast humidity!

There is a tight rope to walk when dealing with naturally curly hair. One waver in your step and it is 'fro city. And I don't mean 'fro in a hip, modern way (think Project Runway, etc.). We are talking finger in the light socket, bride of Frankenstein's monster. Not a pretty sight. Believe me, I have deflected my share of criticisms over my hair on its less than stellar days (and trust me, there were many).

So, with these painful memories in mind, and no doubt a bad hair day of my own, I boohooed over Jillian's hair. I felt like a horrible mom for doing it, too! I mean really, God gifted me with this amazingly cute, larger than life, highly animated, three-year-old (in a few short days) and I should love every inch of her unconditionally, from her unruly hair down to her unreasonable obsession with shoes!



And truly I do, it's just that head of hair!

A few days ago, the kids were playing in the sprinkler and I noticed something:




Now, don't get me wrong, I always notice Jilly's spring-like curls. But this time, I saw those perfect spirals as a perfect compliment to a practically perfect little girl. With this new outlook, I decided to have a photo shoot, not of Jilly, but of her curls!



Sounds crazy, I know! But what better way to celebrate her dominant physical attribute than with a copious collection of corkscrew curls?!

Trust me when I say there were many, many more pictures. But who in the world wants to scroll through dozens of pictures of curly hair. NOT ME! Okay, so I'm a day late on that one.

At any rate, when I find myself cursing the curls--as I no doubt will--these photos will remind me of the beauty that is my Jilly's hair. I feel a bit like Shakespeare when he says:

"Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising,
Haply I think on thee, and then my state,
Like to the lark at break of day arising
From sullen earth, sings hymns at heaven's gate;
For thy sweet love remember'd such wealth brings
That then I scorn to change my state with kings."

Okay, so that was a bit of a stretch, but I felt the Bard just screaming to be heard.

Wow, with all this talk of hair, I suddenly feel the need for some mousse!

Not Me! Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

You know the drill...

• I totally DID NOT fall for it when WGH offered me a Starbucks latte and pumpkin loaf before church as a peace offering for NOT using a short tone with me. Furthermore, I certainly DID NOT start scheming on how to prevoke another short tone for next Sunday! After all, who DOESN'T like Starbuck's pumpkin loaf?! DEFINITELY NOT ME!


• When dealing with Wesley's new-found phobia to the color blue--yes, the actual color along with anything else that hue--I would NEVER behave in a way other than the utmost patience and understanding. My highly trained skills as mother totally prevent me from trying any of the following: logical arguments (did I mention he's 4?!), sweet pleading (again, did I mention he's 4?!), pitiful begging (ditto on the previous two), and eventually frustrated resignation (do I have to repeat it?!). Consequently, I will NOT be changing his navy blue sheets today and hiding his once beloved Thomas the Train pillow (as evidenced by the following photo taken a year ago).

• When someone (or several someones) marvels at Jilly's ultra-curly hair, I WOULD NEVER IN A MILLION YEARS secretly wish that she had "normal hair" because as beautiful as naturally curly hair is, it is even more of a chore keeping it well kempt. When I view the hair of my friends' girls, I certainly NEVER dream of what it would be like to brush smooth, silky hair and arrange it in all sorts of creative and trendy styles. I mean, really, who would ever NOT LOVE this

NOT ME!

Now that I've spilled my guts, go ahead, have at it!